You can add your own contributions to your super fund or into your spouse’s super fund.
Personal super contributions are the amounts you are contributing to your super fund from the after-tax income (from your take-home pay).
These contributions:
– are added to any compulsory super contributions the employer makes on your behalf
– do not include super contributions done through a salary-sacrifice arrangement.
Personal contributions are non-concessional (after-tax) contributions and count towards your non-concessional contributions cap unless you have claimed a tax deduction for them.
If you’re an employee you generally can’t claim a tax deduction for any personal super contributions made before 1 July 2017, although you may be entitled for a super co-contribution. From 1 July 2017, most people, regardless of their employment arrangement, are able to claim a full deduction for personal super contributions they make to their super until they turn 75. Individuals who are aged between 65 and 75 are required to meet the work test to claim the deduction.
If you wish to claim a tax deduction for personal contributions, you are required to complete and lodge a notice of intent with your super fund and have this notice acknowledged (in writing) by your fund.
Adding to super if you’re not working
If you are under 65, you can do personal after-tax contributions to your super fund if you are not working.
If you are 65 years of age or over, you can only do personal after-tax super contributions if you:
– are not yet 75 years of age or older
– have been gainfully employed for at least 40 hours over 30 consecutive days during the FY.
Claiming deductions for personal super contributions
You may be able to claim a tax deduction for personal contributions to your superannuation (super).
This includes people who get their income from:
– salaries and wages
– investments including interest, dividends income, rent and capital gains
– a personal business such as people who are self-employed contractors
– government pensions or allowances
– super
– partnership or trust distributions
– a foreign source.
The contributions that you claim as a deduction count towards your concessional contributions cap.
When deciding whether to claim a deduction for super contributions, consider the super impacts that may arise from this, including whether:
– you exceed your contribution caps
– Division 293 tax applies
– you want to split these contributions with your spouse
– it affect your super co-contribution
If you exceed your cap, you are required to pay extra tax and any excess concessional contributions count towards your non-concessional contributions cap.
Division 293 tax for high-income earners
Division 293 tax is the additional tax on super contributions if the combined income and super contributions are more than a certain threshold. From 1 July 2017 this threshold is being reduced to $250,000.
Division 293 tax is 15% of the taxable concessional contributions above the $250,000 threshold.
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